Is Online Business Coaching Basically an MLM Now?
How To Spot Red Flags Before You Hand Over Your Card
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TL;DR
Online business coaching has gotten messy.
Too many people are:
Using shame and pressure to push high-ticket offers
Recycling the exact same scripts inside a tiny “coaches coaching coaches” bubble
Borrowing credibility, faking urgency, and stretching testimonials
Treating you like a best friend in their content, then like a number once you buy
This article breaks down the biggest online business coaching red flags, why they work on smart people, and what to ask before you hire anyone so you do not get trapped in a year-long contract you regret.
This whole thing started as a conversation with copywriter and brand messaging strategist Stacy Braga, who has seen how this stuff works behind the scenes with big-name coaches and bigger brands.
Why Online Business Coaching Feels MLM-Adjacent
Let’s just say the quiet part out loud.
A lot of business coaching right now looks like this:
Coaches hire other coaches.
They all learn the same “high ticket” scripts.
Then they turn around and sell those same scripts to their own audience.
Most of the money just circulates between coaches instead of coming from actual end clients.
That is where the MLM feeling creeps in. No official downlines, but the same energy.
Stacy pointed out something really telling.
Out of all the clients she has worked with, the ones most likely not to pay on time have been business coaches.
Meanwhile, the “boring” offline businesses.
Manufacturers
Local service providers
Actual companies with actual clients
They pay their invoices. They have money coming from real customers.
If someone is shouting about million-dollar launches but struggling to pay contractors, that is not a business model you want to buy into.
Shady Business Coaching Tactics To Watch For
There are patterns you start to see over and over once you have been around the block a few times.
If you spot several of these in the same person, it is your cue to slow down and start asking harder questions.
1. Fake urgency with nothing behind it
Urgency is not automatically gross.
“The sale ends Friday.” Reasonable.
“This cohort starts Monday.” Also reasonable.
The problem is when the deadline is completely made up and used purely to spike your panic.
Things to side-eye:
Endless “cart closing” countdowns for a self-paced offer that clearly runs all the time.
Over-the-top “this is your last chance forever” energy when you know there will be another round in three months.
No space to think, run numbers, or talk it over with someone you trust.
You are allowed to take 24 hours. You are allowed to look at your finances. You are allowed to say, “not right now.”
If their whole strategy depends on you not having time to think, it is not about your success. It is about their cash flow.
2. Shame marketed as “motivation”
You know the lines:
“If you really believed in your business, you would find the money.”
“In six months, are you going to be mad at yourself for doing nothing today?”
“Stop cutting costs and just sell more.”
That is not support. That is shame dressed up as mindset.
Mindset work is about helping you stay grounded and resilient while you make decisions.
Shame is about getting you to override your own boundaries so you spend money you do not actually have.
If a coach cannot talk about your budget, family, or capacity without making you feel like a failure, they are not safe to learn from.
3. Gross payment pressure on sales calls
Both Stacy and I have been there.
Being asked to read out your credit card number live on a call.
Being pushed to sell furniture or take on debt to “prove you’re all in.”
Having very real concerns about the price brushed off with “just raise your rates.”
If you say, “this is a lot of money for me” and the response is basically, “that is your fault, not my pricing,” that is a pretty clear no.
You are not obligated to pay for someone else’s revenue goals.
4. Borrowed credibility and sketchy testimonials
This one honestly makes my eye twitch.
Some things we talked about:
Coaches claiming “I helped my client make 2k in 24 hours” when the sale was already happening before they showed up.
Testimonials from people who do not seem to exist anywhere else online.
Screenshots and stories that are clearly from friends hyping each other up inside the same little coaching circle.
You are allowed to check:
Google their name.
Look them up on social.
See if that “client result” actually matches their business model.
Also, promising specific income results is a whole other issue.
Guarantees like “you will make X in Y days” rarely match what most people in the program experience.
5. Trauma stories used as a sales hook
Telling real stories is fine. Helpful, even.
But when someone pulls out the worst moments of their life, walks you through every detail until you are fully emotionally cracked open, then pivots to “and that is why you need to buy my program”
That is not just vulnerable storytelling. That is emotional manipulation.
Your pain, or their pain, should not be the sales funnel.
6. Parasocial “friendship” used to close the sale
This is where the “we’re besties” vibe gets uncomfortable.
They call you “friend” or “babe” constantly.
They share every intimate detail of their life to feel close.
You start feeling like you “know” them.
Then, when you buy, you never actually interact with them again.
The closeness was part of the marketing, not the relationship.
To be clear, you absolutely can have real friendships in business.
Stacy and I work together and are friends.
But that happened after working together, over time, with mutual respect, not because one of us trauma dumped on Instagram and the other hit buy.
If someone leans hard on “being in the room” with them, then you find out the “room” is a giant Zoom with no access and no support, that is a problem.
7. “Mindset” and “manifestation” used instead of actual strategy
Mindset is useful. It helps you handle rejection, keep going, and not spiral the first time a launch flops.
But:
Journaling is not a lead generation strategy.
Vision boards do not replace pricing, positioning, or an audience.
Meditation does not give you childcare or margin in your schedule.
If someone is selling you the idea that you can think, journal, or manifest your way out of structural problems, that is not empowerment. That is denial.
You need mindset support and real strategy. One cannot replace the other.
Why Smart People Fall For Shady Coaching Tactics
If you have signed up for something like this before, you are not dumb. You are human.
This stuff works because:
You are tired and want someone to hand you a plan.
The messaging is designed to hit your fear, shame, and hope at the same time.
Algorithms keep putting the same people in front of you, so they feel familiar.
There is zero regulation for “business coach.” Anyone can wake up and decide that is their new job title.
Both of us have invested in programs we would not buy again.
We learned things, yes, but we also learned what to ask next time.
You get to use those experiences as data, not as proof you “can’t be trusted with money.”
How To Vet A Business Coach Before You Hire Them
Here is where you get your power back.
Step 1: Get specific about what you actually need
Before you even book a call, ask yourself:
What is my actual problem right now? Leads, conversions, systems, something else?
Do I need someone to talk strategy, or do I really just need done-for-you implementation?
Do I want general “business coaching” or help with a specific thing?
A specialist will often give you more for your money than a generalist coach who teaches a little of everything.
Step 2: Read their marketing like an adult, not a fangirl
Go through:
Their sales page
Their emails
Their socials
Their testimonials
And ask:
Are they talking about how buyer behavior has changed in the last few years, or pretending nothing is different?
Do they acknowledge real constraints like cost of living, caregiving, time, energy?
Are they leaning hard on “10k months” and screenshots instead of nuance?
Do you see fake urgency, shame, trauma bait, or parasocial “bestie” energy?
If everything feels like a performance and nothing feels grounded, that tells you a lot.
Step 3: Google their name off-platform
Do a quick search:
[Name] reviews[Name] experience[Name] Reddit
If they are big, people have talked. Not every story will be fair or accurate, but you will see patterns.
Step 4: Ask blunt questions on the call
You are not being “negative.” You are being responsible.
Some questions you can literally read off your screen:
“How many people in the last year actually hit the result you are promoting?”
“What kinds of businesses have gone through this that look like mine?”
“What support is guaranteed in the contract versus what is just how it feels at the beginning?”
“What happens if you get busy, or the program shifts, and support changes?”
If they dodge, guilt-trip, or immediately start talking about your “mindset,” that is your sign.
Step 5: Run it past a neutral person before you sign
Send the sales page to a friend or colleague who is not in the coach’s ecosystem.
Ask:
“If you were where I am right now, would you spend this?”
“Does this feel grounded, or hype-y?”
Sometimes all you need is someone outside the bubble to say “yeah, this seems off” so you listen to the voice in your own head.
What Ethical, Grounded Support Actually Looks Like
It is not all doom. There are good coaches and strategists out there.
They tend to:
Be honest about what their offer can and cannot do.
Tell you who it is not for.
Have real case studies and can walk you through how they got those results.
Respect your timeline and your budget.
Treat you like a whole human with a life outside your business.
They do not:
Panic if you say you need time.
Tell you to put the program on a credit card “or you’re not serious.”
Make your success or failure their personal branding moment.
You deserve that level of respect.
You Are Allowed To Take Your Time
If there is one thing I want you to take from this episode-turned-blog, it is this:
You are not behind because you did not jump into the first high-ticket offer that landed in your inbox.
Before you hand over your card:
Pause.
Ask what this person needs you to believe to make the sale.
Look for real receipts, not just feelings.
Talk to someone you trust.
The offer will still be there.
Or something similar will be.
Your money, energy, and nervous system are not disposable. Treat them like they matter, because they do.
And if you have your own “what the hell just happened” story from the online coaching space, I would genuinely love to hear it.
You can come hang out with me on Instagram @sydneyobrien.co and tell me your story
You are not the only one side-eyeing this industry. You are just one of the few willing to say it out loud.
